Measurement of the Isotopic Composition of Molybdenum in Geological Samples by MC‐ICP‐MS using a Novel Chromatographic Extraction Technique

A novel preconcentration method is presented for the determination of Mo isotope ratios by multi‐collector inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry (MC‐ICP‐MS) in geological samples. The method is based on the separation of Mo by extraction chromatography using N‐benzoyl‐N‐phenylhydroxylamine (BPHA) supported on a microporous acrylic ester polymeric resin (Amberlite CG‐71). By optimising the procedure, Mo could be simply and effectively separated from virtually all matrix elements with a single pass through a small volume of BPHA resin (0.5 ml). This technique for separation and enrichment of Mo is characterised by high selectivity, column efficiency and recovery (~ 100%), and low total procedural blank (~ 0.18 ng). A ¹⁰⁰Mo‐⁹⁷Mo double spike was mixed with samples before digestion and column separation, which enabled natural mass‐dependent isotopic fractionation to be determined with a measurement reproducibility of  < 0.09‰ (δ^98/95Mo, 2s) by MC‐ICP‐MS. The mean δ^98/95Mo_{SRM 3134} (NIST SRM 3134 Mo reference material; Lot No. 891307) composition of the IAPSO seawater reference material measured in this study was 2.00 ± 0.03‰ (2s, n = 3), which is consistent with previously published values. The described procedure facilitated efficient and rapid Mo isotopic determination in various types of geological samples.     

Determination of Platinum‐Group Elements and Re‐Os Isotopes using ID‐ICP‐MS and N‐TIMS from a Single Digestion after Two‐Stage Column Separation

We report an improved procedure for the determination of the platinum‐group elements (PGE) and Re, and Os isotopes from a single sample aliquot by isotope dilution (ID) using inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS) and negative thermal ionisation mass spectrometry (N‐TIMS), respectively. A two‐stage column method was used to purify PGE‐Re from their sample matrix and interfering elements (e.g., Mo, Zr and Hf) after Os had been separated by CCl₄ solvent extraction. The first column separation step used cation exchange resin (AG50W‐X8) to concentrate PGE‐Re and some potential interfering elements (e.g., Mo, Zr and Hf). In the second step, N‐benzoyl‐N‐phenylhydroxylamine (BPHA) extraction resin was used to separate PGE‐Re from the remaining interfering elements, which all remained strongly absorbed to the resin. The method was used to determine the PGE and rhenium, and Os isotope ratios in a range of geochemical reference materials (TDB‐1, WGB‐1, BHVO‐2 and UB‐N). The obtained results agree well with those previously published. This new method enables PGE‐Re abundances and Os isotopic ratios to be determined on the same sample digestion, and circumvents the problems created by sample heterogeneity when comparing PGE and Re‐Os isotope data.